September 2nd, 2015, “Let us not seck a Republican answer or a Democrat answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame forthe past. Let us accept our responsibilty for the future." John F, Kennedy Dear Me. President, ‘As Members of Congress prepare to vote for or against the Iran agreement, partisan polities shouldnt be allowed to dominate the debate. But the intensity of the partisanship over how best to prevent Iran from setting a nuclear weapon is almost unprecedented. We believe the consequences of making the wrong decision would be a serious blow to four future foreign policy decisions. We do not question those who have legitimate concems about the risks involved in approving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. We do, however, stongly support the agreement and offer here some thoughts on how Democrats and Republicans might work together to implement it. We urge the President and Congressional leadership to lead in the bipartisan approach necessary. Bipartisanship has been the diving force behind US policy toward Iran for decades. Since Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, each President in close collaboration with both partes in Congress has taken forceful measures against Iran. Yet each President in seeking to probe Iran's willingness to ‘negotiate has found that Tehan seemed numb to sanctions and deaf to the offers. America has taken advantage of 3 decades of a bipartisan strategy and this agreement has been the result ofthis accumulation of pressure on Iran, Each President-elect has wished that his predecessor had worked out some solution to the intractable and increasingly dangerous relationship with “Tehran. Surely the President elect in 2016 would prefer not to have to deal ‘with the legacy of a rejection of an international agreement reached with some of America's closes allies or inherits collapsing intemationalsanctions regime and an international coalition united against [ran. The United States should not suffer a decline in stature as a dependable partner and leader in an ever more disorderly international environment. ‘The advantages of testing whether this agreement can be made to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon outweigh the risks that we agree are inthe Joint, Comprehensive Plan of Action. Therefore how might the US resolve its domestic political standoff to best preserve America’s leadership role in the world and prevent escalating development of an Iranian nuclear weapon? We believe the President should continue to articulate a clear and forceful statement that his administration is committed to taking action necessary {o prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon; will place @ highest priority oon satisfying the security needs of its pariners in the region; and will ‘cooperate closely with all other nations to head off and stop Iran's support for terrorism and other malign activity. ‘The President should appoint a Compliance and Oversight Panel, made up fof senior former leaders ftom the scientific, military and political community experienced in the Middle East. The responsibilty of the Panel will be to oversee the strict and strenuous implementation of the Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action and the inspection system that it provides, With our eyes wide open we believe it is an opportunity to provide leadership for a world order that is changing and will continue to require constant and forceful American participation and understanding, Sam Nunn John Wamer Carl Levin George Mitchell David Boren Dick Lugar ‘Tom Daschle Nancy Kassebaum